Killing Bonsai

For more than 30 years I’ve been trying to grow Bonsai. Unless you are a big fan of the original Karate Kid movies, you might not know about the art of Bonsai, which is turning small plants into miniature versions of trees. I’ve seen it done with Pine and Maple, Succulents and even Peppers. It requires a specific technique, years of patience, and constant attention.

What I’ve learned from this endeavor is that it takes decades to shape and grow the perfect Bonsai. It takes only days to kill the tree you’ve cared for so long.

If I’m being honest, you need to know I’ve killed many a tree in my long, not-so-illustrious Bonsai career. Despite hours spent shaping, forming, and wiring the delicate limbs into place, I can neglect to water or use the wrong concentration of fertilizer and leaves and needles drop almost overnight.

Unfortunately, I’m witnessing the same form of destruction happening to our Democracy. What took 250 years to build, shape, and form is being unraveled in a matter of days, weeks, and months. By careless acts and toxic positions, our country is unraveling at the very foundations of our nation. What was once a great country of immigrants and outcasts has become a white-privilege-first collection of anti-immigrant elitists. Where we once fed the hungry and cared for the down-and-out, we now see these same people as a drain on our collective society. We give safe harbor to white national extremists and release rioters, while stealing the brown and black off the streets and secret them away to far flung outposts, away from family, wives, husbands, and children.

We force children to represent themselves in court.

We remove healthcare for the elderly and sick.

We rollback the promises of Social Security, long paid for and expected.

We line the pockets of the rich through tax breaks and unquestioned contracts.

We remove the agencies that meet the global needs of safety and security.

We pretend history doesn’t exist: The slavery of the early nation was good. Groundbreaking inroads by women and minorities is bad.

The delicate balance that is our nation of rules and law, ethical principles and morality, is being pulled out by the roots. In short, we are doing everything possible to kill the tree…one limb at a time.